Freeloading is Fun

Dan and I got to Sanya 2 days ago after a 4.5 hour bus ride from Linggao county where we WWOOFed at Guo and Niu's farm. Sanya is the southern city in Hainan where many Chinese tourists and foreigners come for the beautiful beaches. So far, I can definitely see the appeal.

I never thought I'd be grateful for the existence of Conrad Hilton, the creator of the Hilton hotel chain, but here I am in Sanya, Hainan feeling incredibly thankful for his ambition and appreciation for luxury so thanks Mr. Hilton! Much thanks.

Yesterday Dan and I went to Yulong Bay and used the private beach belonging to the Hilton hotel at the suggestion of one of the hostel owners: sweet, eager Ina. Sanya Sunshine International Youth Hostel is owned by a Chinese couple, Ina and Jason, originally from Beijing. She claimed that Yulong was her favorite beach out of Dadonghai Bay and Sanya Bay because it's frequented by less people, and hence a lot cleaner. I liked the sound of this, but didn't really think what it would mean to "go through the Hilton", which is how she stated it. It would take us 30-40 minutes to get there on bus, and midway en route we stopped by Dadonghai and grabbed a Western lunch of burgers and french fries. The food was much needed after a night of Chinese drinking games (difficult when your ability to count in Chinese is that of a 5 year old's) and a lot of free beers with the guests, workers, and owners of the hostel. Jason, Ina's boyfriend, apparently is a renowned bartender (although I'm sure her praise was a little biased), which proved to be true after making us the most delectable cocktails I've ever tasted: Manhattans, Singapore Slings, whiskey sours, and this apple chili cucumber concoction. We ended the night strumming on my uke and their guitar and enjoying the company of the workers at the hostel, including the cleaning lady who showed up later after having danced at a live show in a park. Let me just say I've seen the cleaning lady do everything from drinking, singing a song of praise to Chairman Mao, videotaping Dan and me, to hanging out with every guest here. Everything but cleaning the hostel (although it is, strangely enough, very clean). She's kind of crazy, but good crazy, and I like it. Everyone was forced to sing at Jason's demand, and boy, do Dan and I have terrible voices. They sure didn't seem impressed. We were put on the spot and so I made up a song about farting and pooping (very mature, I know, but I was feeling silly at the moment) hoping they didn't know enough English to figure out what I was singing about. Later Dan and I realized we should've just sung the theme song of the Fresh Prince of Bellair, one of the few songs we know all the lyrics too. Maybe another night.

Anyway, back to that Western lunch in Dadonghai. I knew after the first bite of our lunch and tasting that delicious melted cheese and crunchy fries that that day was going to be a good, good day. I was sure right. We hopped back onto a bus that would take us to Yalong Bay, which turned out to be a secluded area with a lot of high-end resorts. The driver let us off near the Hilton at our request. We walked down a deserted road with trees lining the sidewalks and freshly cut grass past the Marriott until we reached the Hilton: Sanya Resort and Spa.

DAMN. As soon as we entered the premises we were surrounded by a lush green landscape with flowers and trees of every kind. The entire place smelled like money. We walked up the driveway into a gleaming marble lobby and were pointed in the direction of the beach. Just like that. No questions. No suspicion. For all the workers at the Hilton knew, we were coming back from a day in town. The upkeep of this place was ridiculous, nothing was out of place, everything was manicured and immaculate. We walked down the path past 5 pools with turquoise water and beautiful shrubbery, a volleyball court in a sand lot, a water bar, cabanas with Chinese kids on their iPads, and down to the glorious beach. The water was 3 shades of blue, each shade different as the water got farther away from the shore, but all were a beautiful hue of clear blue. To the right and left of us were grassy mountains and few skyscrapers were to be seen. The shore was dotted with reclining beach chairs and umbrellas, lifeguards, chubby Russians, and Chinese families. Dan and I used as many of the free Hilton facilities as we could: we borrowed a volleyball using a fake room number, raced each other in the pool, saw who could hold their breath longer underwater in the pool, played a quick 1-on-1 game of volleyball on their sand court, used their plush sea-green towels, bodysurfed in their exclusive part of the beach, laid out and ate fresh lychee poolside on their reclining chairs, and rinsed off in their outdoor showers. Economists would call us “freeloaders”, but we were just taking advantage of what was there. I think Conrad Hilton wouldn't mind too much, and plus I'm fairly certain he's doing quite well anyway without the expense of two others, heh heh. But economists also claim there is no such thing as a free lunch, and we definitely paid the price. At around 8 o'clock we decided to head back to our hostel, so we asked the concierge where the bus stop was (the bus driver before had just dropped us off where we asked, it wasn't a real stop) and to our dismay he told us that the particular bus we wanted had already stopped running. Mistake number 1. The second mistake came when we got into one of the taxis that was waiting outside the Hilton, which for some reason had a flat rate of 35 RMB, which is around $6. This flat rate is absurdly high for a Chinese taxi, usually it's around 5 RMB, but it must've cost more because it was on retainer for the hotel, and consequently assumes everyone who gets into these taxis is loaded. GAH. We got dropped off halfway, which cost us $14 (insanely high), and took the bus the rest of the way. Despite this small annoyance Dan and I had a great first full day thanks to Ina's suggestion and Conrad Hilton. We'll definitely be going back there again.

Sustainability: Imagination Matters

Guo and Niu are quite the inspiring couple not only when it comes to their relationship, but also when it comes to sustainability. It's pretty much a closed cycle over here. Nothing goes to waste, in fact most things are re-used to serve another purpose. Here are a couple of things they do to ensure sustainability on their farm and in their home:

• They use used water to water their plants (i.e. the water from their air conditioner that is gathered from a pipe leading from the AC unit to a bucket [they never leave their AC unit on overnight]).

• They feed leftover food from meals to their ducks and chickens, usually making a hodgepodge of fruit, fish, vegetables, and/or pet food pellets (these animals are indiscriminate, they eat up everything)(the ducks are my favorite, the rooster is my nemesis, as well as Dan's)

• The rest of the leftover food, such as watermelon rinds, mango skins, and things of that nature are gathered in a bucket to be composted on their farm.

• Some of the types of weeds we pull on their farm are used to feed the rabbits.

• They eat eggs laid by their own chickens and ducks so they never buy from outside sources.

• They have solar panels on their roof that supply them with solar energy at night (mostly used for lighting-- Guo says the solar energy provides 5% of their entire household energy consumption).

• He re-uses soda cans and transforms them into a light shade (like a little hat) and small trays for holding things like toothpicks.

• They use wood/branches from their own farm to make drying racks, benches, hat racks, and tables.

• They use herbs and grasses from their farm to make tea (the tea tastes too grassy for my taste).

• They eat the mangos, papayas, bananas, and other vegetables and fruits from their farm.

• They use coconut shells for light shades.

• They use LED and fluorescent lights to conserve the amount of electricity they use (the LED lights are 3 W, or is it V? Derf.)

• They don't use their water heater much (this doesn't matter because hot showers here would make me melt).

• They have small fans that probably go through one full rotation every 5 seconds and mostly use hand-held fans made from tree leaves.

• They gather any plastic material to bring to them to their home in Haikou (main city), which they go to about every month, and throw the garbage all out there since there is no place to throw away such material here in this rural village (no garbage cans, no landfill, no garbage collecting agency).

I could go on and on and on, but I think you get the idea. Sustainability is entrenched in everything they do. It's so much easier to be wasteful, but they really put the time and commitment in being sustainable. I asked them (through Dan) what motivates them to be sustainable. Guo's response was that he likes saving things and he likes the environment, giving him the desire to protect it in any way he can. We remarked on his little innovations throughout the house, such as the coconut lamp shades, and Niu smiled and said that he has a big imagination that stems from his engineering days. Her comment made me think a lot.

Imagination. Shit! That's it. We just need a whole lot of imagination to solve some of these environmental problems of our day, and to be personally sustainable. We need to think outside of the box to solve these unique issues. I'm not naïve, I know imagination isn't the only thing we need to put these ideas to practice. I guess what I'm trying to say though is that instead of spending $10 million a day in Libya to secure oil reserves by attempting to put a pro-Western leader in place, we should be funneling that money and effort into thinking of new creative ideas to replace oil as an energy source. Oil will run out, inevitably, at some point anyway. If we did, we wouldn't need that oil and we wouldn't have to kill innocent people over it, both Libyan and possibly American (in the future). Thinking about it like this makes sustainability and environmental conservation/protection an interesting challenge that we all should face head-on. A lot of people think of sustainability and environmental solutions as difficult, boring, and impossible to achieve, but if we all used our imagination being environmentally conscious wouldn't have to be a mundane, tedious task. Think outside the box. Part of the problem is that the individual feels like his/her effort will not make a difference, for example, in solving global warming; this is a noxious line of thinking. Guo and Niu's efforts are making a difference, and although it may not be a global difference, it could be if their neighbors and their neighbors and their neighbors and my neighbors and yours would do what Guo and Niu are doing. Perhaps their dedication to sustainability does inspire their neighbor to compost. Who knows? A little bit from a lot of people can go a long way. Humans are a special species in that our ability to adapt is amazing. We've survived through so much, in so many different conditions, and we are still flourishing (although this depends on our ability to respond to such environmental issues, population growth, water scarcity, etc). What makes humans so adaptable and different from other animals are their mental faculties, their ability to be creative and innovative in adapting to new, challenging conditions. We need to do the same to solve these environmental issues. The government, I think, could do a better job in challenging people to think of these ideas, like an energy alternative (perhaps a combination of many), perhaps through monetary incentives or the like.

I think Jane McGonigal, has the right idea in approaching the idea of changing the world through unconventional means. According to her bio on TedTalks, she "directs game R&D at the Institute for Future, a nonprofit forecasting firm where she developed Superstruct, a massively multiplayer game in which players organize society to solve for issues that will confront the world in 2019. She [also] masterminded World Without Oil, which simulated the beginning of a global oil crisis and inspired players to change their daily energy habits." You can see her talk on Tedtalks here. These individuals would need to take it outside the gaming world, but at least it's attempting to force people to think about these kind of scenarios, and new solutions to these problems, even if virtually.

So I ask you this.....

ARE YOU UP FOR THE CHALLENGE? I am.

The Fish People

When I woke up at 6:45 AM to Guo's calling, I would never have guessed we would be leaving the world for an hour. Our plan was to go visit the old fishing port 5 kilometers away from Guo and Niu's farm. Yesterday I was excited at the prospect of going somewhere new, somewhere other than the paths we frequented on our daily night walks. This morning, after an interrupted night of sleep (thanks to the chatty roosters in the neighborhood), I woke up groggy, wanting more sleep, and unwilling to go to this fishing port. After all, it was just a fishing port, what could be so special about it? Fish. Boats. Fishermen. I couldn't imagine much more. I was very, very wrong. A piece of advice: never trust yourself to think logically at such early hours when sleep seems to be the most ideal prize.

We first drove to a nearby market where fishing was obviously the livelihood of most of the people there. Women were carefully unraveling nets and the smell of fish permeated the thick air. We stopped to get some breakfast to bring with us to the port. Guo, as usual, was generous and bought more than enough: deep fried sesame balls, rice noodles with pork, rice cakes wrapped in leaves and stuffed with red bean paste, and a variety of other pastries. We then drove to the fishing port, and when it came into view, I was in awe. There were about 70 large wooden boats (the size of 3 to 4 average houses in the US) crammed together, sitting on the shore (it was low tide), with barely any space in between each. Each boat had a string of lightbulbs the size of my head on both of its sides, running down its entire length. Later, Guo told me the fishermen use the lightbulbs to attract the jellyfish when they're fishing in the night. The sheer sizes and amount of boats, old and wooden, tied on shore, so close together, was almost fantasy-like. And those big lightbulbs. It didn't feel real and I had never seen anything like it. The water was blinding to look at because of the sun's unforgiving glare, but I could see a couple of smaller wooden boats with fishermen lazing around on them, hoping for a good day's catch. One guy was even paddling on a homemade raft, maneuvering easily in the water, like a fish above water. I observed this all while munching my way-too-greasy pastries in the car. After a quick breakfast, we walked down the water's edge and passed by a shipbuilding site. There were 5 guys working on 2 boats, I couldn't tell if they had built them from scratch, or were just repairing them. I don't think I've ever seen shipbuilders either. We walked closer to where most of the fishermen and fisherwomen were stationed. Most of them were so absorbed in their own work, bringing nets from shore onto boats, counting money and fish, and washing clothes in the water, that they didn't even notice us. And trust me, this is unusual in China where being a “waiguoren” (foreigner) is like having 3 heads and purple tentacles coming out from them-- everybody notices. I was taking pictures of everything, mesmerized by such new sights, when a woman grabbed my arm and said something to me in Chinese, bringing me in front of another woman kneeled over by some fish, counting money. I'm pretty sure she was telling me to take a picture of her friend because she started laughing hard and pulling her friend's hat back, and pointing to my camera. Her friend didn't even glance up at me, and continued to count money. I snapped a picture anyway to please her friend who couldn't stop shrieking in Chinese and laughing.

I didn't know at the time what captivated me so much about this scene, but thinking about it now I think I figured it out. I felt like I was a privileged guest, peeking into the lives of these people-- “fish people” as Guo called them. This is what they did, this was their livelihood. Other people were punching numbers on a computer in an office, others were constructing buildings that would be used as resorts, and still others were greeting people at air-conditioned malls. I think this is what is so appealing about life here, the life of farmers and fish people: they seem so untouched. Of course, modernization still has left a fingerprint on these people's lives, but in a very minimal sense. After work they might go back home and watch TV, go on the Internet, or text a friend, but nothing to the extent of what most of us are used to. We are married to technology whereas in this area, the people merely flirt with it. I'm not saying this is a bad thing (I love my iPhone and Kindle), but being on the other side of the spectrum is quite refreshing. So at that old fishing port, in that frozen moment, I was solely witnessing the fish people and their livelihoods and boats, passed down from generation to generation, and their raw hard work going into fishing. There was no outside world, it didn't matter to them in that moment. They weren't texting or checking their e-mail on their phones, instead they were absorbed in their work and each other. They belonged to the fish and the ocean, and the ocean and the fish belonged to them. There was nothing else.

I'll be posting pictures soon on Facebook. ^_^

Travelers Traversing China

Disclaimer: Since I haven't written anything since I've gotten here, I'm going to slam you with a BIG post, so big that I'm separating it into two posts (although the first is still really long). This is the first post, which is more of a travel log for all you curious folk out there, and the second one, the one underneath this post is one of my ruminations since I've been here. So get yourself a cup of coffee or whatever you need to make yourself comfy, and indulge yourselves.

Only a week has passed since I left America Home of the Brave and entered China Communist Country, and so much has happened I can't even wrap my mind around all the days, food, events, people, and Chinese words I've encountered. It doesn't help I've been awake since 5 AM this morning and swimming in sweat all day. There's something about walking in the heat and sweating all day that makes you exhausted by 10 PM. WELL LET ME TELL YOU WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON OVER HERE.

Dan and I have pretty much seen the 3 extremes of China from the most developed (Hong Kong/Kowloon), pretty developed (Guangzhou), and the least developed (Linggao, Hainan) in the past 5 days.

KOWLOON/HONG KONG:

We first arrived in Hong Kong and checked in a swanky hotel in Kowloon (a city right outside Hong Kong) my mom insisted on reserving me when she purchased my ticket to China as a graduation gift. Needless to say it was my first time in such a nice hotel room without parents or family. I felt as if I were playing grown-up in this hotel room with a safe, plump pillows, and fancy bathroom. Dan and I roamed around that night, looking for a bar and somewhere to get that infamous delicious Chinese food Dan has always been raving about. We looked for the familiar words “jiu ba” which means bar, and was disappointed to see the scarcity of said word. Many places were also closing as it was 2 AM, but we finally chose a place without beer, although they had an impressive Chinese menu with pictures to accompany the descriptions. I have found pictures of food quite necessary and helpful here in China where I can't read what the dishes are and descriptions are scarce. Kowloon, in general, is a dirty, overcrowded city teeming with impressively large cockroaches, 7-11s, and towering, neglected apartment buildings squeezed in between nicer company buildings with pretty Asian girls smiling down on the streets from billboards. We were originally going to stay for one night and head to Guangzhou the next day where we would take a ferry to the island, Hainan, but plans change as they often do when traveling, and we decided to stay another day to see more of Hong Kong. The next day Dan and I checked out of the hotel to find some place more fit for our budget, and we found it on the 12^th floor of a multifunctional building filled with vendors, apartments, and currency exchange booths. The hostel was called “Cosmic Guesthouse” and it was mostly a narrow hallway with doors that led to small rooms. The funniest part about our room was the “rain showers” which is a 1 square meter area consisting of a sink, shower head, and toilet, making most sense to shower while sitting on the toilet. No joke. Although much of the area was urban, Dan and I found hidden beauty in a park with a swimming pool, aviary, sculptures, and a path that led to the coastline where we could see man's effect on the natural word-- shimmering skyscrapers, construction cranes, and mountains enveloped in fog dotted the horizon. A city apart from the city. Dan and I decided to take a train to central Hong Kong for the night for some dinner and drinks. We strayed from the main road into the dark alleys where we found a small outside restaurant with terrific service and sub-par food. What delighted me the most was our waiter, an old man who reminded me of Dobby (from Harry Potter) in features and stance, who kept on filling our cups with beer we ordered, and then would pour our beer into his own cup for himself. He neither asked nor was unnatural about this. I found it hilarious. We clanked glasses.

After dinner Dan and I stumbled upon a raging bar street off of one of the main roads. Whities and Asians were pouring from the bars onto the streets, dancing and breaking bottles. Dan and I drank a beer from higher ground so we could observe the unfolding scene below on the streets. One beer turned into more beers and many shots, and making a friend, Ethan, who we realized was a bboy when he started breaking only after I attempted a freeze and fell on my face. We danced the night away, hopping to one bar to another, dancing to Spice Girls, Cyndi Lauper's “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”, Queen, and salsa music (did my Costa Rica learning some justice!). A fight broke out at the end of the night which I, emboldened and indignant with injustice and booze at that point, was able to stop with the help of Dan and others. Apparently this Asian fellow had punched a girl in the face, provoking her boyfriend to beat the shit out of the Asian guy. I stopped the boyfriend, pleading with him that I would take care of the other guy (HA!) if only he would stop kicking the other guy. He stormed off with his girl, and left me furious, looking for the weak asshole who would punch anyone, girl or boy. Dan had seen the guy, I had not, so I had no idea what he looked like, and of course, Dan wouldn't tell me because he knew what I wanted to do (give him a piece of my mind) and didn't want me to piss off a guy who would hit a girl. Fair enough. I was so mad though, which unearthed the deeper feeling I had experienced earlier in the night upon seeing a hunchback begging on the bar street where rich bitches were stepping over his hat filled with sympathetic money (part of it mine and Dan's). The stark contrast between the needy and the privileged disgusted me, and it was this that led me to start taking shots. Pathetic, I know. I wanted the warm feelings of being tipsy to overwhelm the sadness I felt for this man I didn't know. I gave him money, offered him a beer, and even asked other people to give him money. I started resenting the people who just walked right over his hat, not even looking at him, as if he wasn't a person. I was seething, and only when Dan gave me some insight did I start feeling better (okay, and those jello shots helped too). He told me that I couldn't hate the people who didn't care like I did because if I wanted the world to change, I would need help from those people who didn't care. I would have to get them to care or else how will anything change? Good point-- that changed something in me. Too many times am I frustrated and angry with the world for being so selfish and self-absorbed... but I need more productive feelings, not the self-defeating kind. Anyway, we ended the night getting ramyun at a 7-11 at 4:30 AM, and making another friend Ali. All in all, a really unexpected fun night with a new friend.

GUANGZHOU:

The next day we made the trek to Guangzhou where we were going to find this ferry to take us to Hainan, according to multiple sources. TURNS OUT NOT TRUE! After several hours trying to figure out where we could take this ferry, we gave up and decided to buy train tickets, only after did we find out that the ferry had been suspended because not enough people were taking it. Guangzhou was what I imagined Hong Kong to look like-- wide streets and spaced out buildings, not as dense and crammed like HK. The spacing of the city stood in contrast to the absurd cluster fuck the train station turned out to be (we first went to the wrong train station), which was a SEA (LITCHERALLY) of bodies cramming together and pushing past each other. Total chaos and disorder, and it didn't help I was carrying around 100 pounds of luggage in air so humid I was literally wading through it. The train was a sleeper train, composed of many beds and walkways so narrow that I could barely squeeze my suitcase through. The train ride was from 9 PM to 9 AM so Dan and I slept through most of it while “stewardesses” pushed carts past full of fruits and ramyun and old Chinese men slurped ramyun. The AC was barely working and so I simmered in my own sweat for most of the time.

HAINAN:

We arrived in Haikou, Hainan early in the morning and were greeted by the elderly Chinese couple that were hosting us WWOOFers. I liked them right away. Guo, the hubby, is a sweet, goofy man with a chuckle that makes me feel at ease. Niu, his wife, is also just as kind and inviting as Guo, and they always are so sweet to each other. Considering the age difference between them and Dan and me, we have an awful lot talk about, from factory farming to the environment to fat Americans to North Korea to ducks, and there are rarely silences. They're very chatty and love entertaining our questions, and I definitely take advantage of the fact they are fountains of information on China. Haikou is an underdeveloped area that is struggling to create itself as a tourist area. There are a lot of half-built buildings and high-end resorts apparently frequented by government officials. The county they live in (Lianggao) is even more underdeveloped and in ways reminds me of the rural town of Kimana, Kenya. There are so many abandoned buildings, as if someone decided it wasn't worth their time to finish building, and the stores are dilapidated and are mainly glass display cases filled with random merchandise. Guo and Niu's farm is small, 2 large disjointed gardens, where they grow mangos, papayas, bananas, yams, jack fruit, as well as house ducks, chickens, and two cute rabbits. So far we've weeded and picked mangos and bananas. We've tried about 3 types of mangos here, and they are far superior than the apple mangos we get in the United States. We wake up early to eat breakfast, usually consisting of vegetables and steamed buns or vegetable pancakes. We'll do farm work either before breakfast, or after, depending on how hot the day will get. After that the day crawls and Dan and I fill it with reading, lazing around on our bamboo mats, learning Chinese, and/or blogging until Niu calls us for lunch. They don't eat much meat here because of the heat-- vegetables are more refreshing-- so it's quite easy to be a vegetarian here. I get a secret delight also when I see Dan eating and actually enjoying all these different kinds of mangos, and I am personally thrilled eating them right after we pick them-- knowing where they came from and that these truly are the fruits of our labor. After lunch everyone takes a nap because it's the hottest part of the day, and so you can't move much without feeling the burden of the sun on your shoulders. It's funny, even though Guo and Niu are farmers, they, like most Asians in Asia, don't enjoy being in the sun, something they admitted themselves. After a nap we do a little bit more farm work, also depending on how hot it is, if it's too hot we'll spend the time however we like until dinner. Guo originally wanted Dan to help him translate his book on systems theory, but Dan quickly realized this feat to be impossible once he learned it was over 300 pages of Chinese characters. I've been writing in the meantime and tearing through books on my Kindle (I converted). Last night we took a walk to the edge of the town where we were engulfed by the sounds of frogs and the bright glow of the moon. The moon is really bright here, it's as if someone turned on a lamp in the sky, illuminating everything in the dark when we're laying in our beds at night and listening to the sounds of geckos. The life here in Lianggao country is taking idyllic to a whole new level. It's been difficult speaking to Guo and Niu because I can't speak much Chinese, but Dan has been amazing at translating my questions and anything they say to the best of his Chinese abilities. It's frustrating at times not understanding what's going on around me, conversations floating around my head, but I do my best to pay attention anyway and try to pick out words I do know, formulating my own version of their statements. I participate and ask and ask and ask because I'm curious about life in China, and am trying my best to engage with this life, and start a hazy version of my own.

TOMORROW WE GO TO THE BEACH, BITCHES!

THINGS I'VE DISCOVERED:

1) Being Asian in Asia comes with expectations.

Everyone always talks about how being white in Asia can be burdensome because of all the staring and curiosity, and while this may be true, I have found that being Asian in Asia can be equally burdensome and can get old too fast. The main reason being that everyone mistakes me for being Chinese here, which means they assume I can speak Chinese.

The picture (which happens ALL the time): Dan will say something to someone in Chinese. The person, confused, will say something quickly to me in Chinese, and then look at me, expectantly, waiting for me to clarify and answer in perfect Chinese. I, then, understanding that look of expectation, can only sheepishly mutter “Bu hui shuo Hanyu” (I can't speak to Chinese), at which point they will look bewildered and/or disappointed. Dan will then step in and attempt to restate his inquiry. Most people seem genuinely confused as to why the white person can speak Chinese, and why the Asian remains mute. It's frustrating because sometimes I feel people think I'm incompetent, and this bothers me. Oh well, it just lends further drive to learn Chinese more, and better. I'll show you! Also being a half white and half Asian couple itself draws many stares from people trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Keep on keeping on.

2) Most of Chinese meat is grown locally, not on factory farms, despite their population of 1,336,718,015.

Before coming to China I thought it would be interesting to learn more about the agriculture and farming system here in China, and then compare it to the United States, since the population in China is so much larger than that of the United States. One of the reasons people justify factory farming in the US is that there are too many people to feed and that local farming wouldn't supply enough meat for all. Well, I say bullshit. I know China is importing more meat, and I know that wholly surviving off local farming may not be plausible in the US (not solely for population reasons though), but to say that ONLY factory farming is the ONLY solution is complete utter cow shit. I mean, look at China. They have so many more people, and somehow MOST of their meat is from local farms. I'm beginning to think there can be a balance in the US, but of course, at a cost. Isn't there always some kind of cost? Part of the issue Guo raised that makes raising meat in local farms harder in the United States is the incredible amount of meat we eat. It's a greedy amount, an entitled amount: 5 hamburgers a week isn't good enough for some Americans, they need 10. So then I raise the question... what if we restricted the amount of meat people could eat? This brings me to my next point....FREEDOM!

3) There is such a thing as being too free (thanks Jonathan Franzen for lending to this idea).

Freedom. Everybody loves this word, it's almost a word that has lost its true meaning, a toss around word. Nobody hates freedom, we want it, we love it, and we want it for all. Then, I started reading “Freedom” by Jonathan Franzen and damnit does he bring up some great points about freedom. Freedom isn't always so good, especially for environmental protection and conservation, natural resources management, and being able to survive as a unit on this planet. Freedom for individuals can be good, but as a whole, when it comes to the environment, it can be a very detrimental force. Freedom gives us the illusion of entitlement and privilege: “we're allowed to have as many babies as we want because it's out freedom” (even if it means there won't be enough resources like food and water to feed the ever-growing population by 2050), “we're FREE to eat as much meat as we want" (even if it means we're emitting ridiculous amounts of GHGs like methane into the environment), and “we're FREE to own our cars and drive 3 blocks down the street" (etc, etc, you get it). So my point is: MEAT CARDS. HUH? MEAT CARDS? WADDAWHO? WADDAFUCK? Well, okay, let me elaborate. What if everyone in the US had a meat quota, not too scarce, but not over-indulging like it is now, maybe 5 pounds a meat or something a week (numbers would be worked out obviously). Everyone would have a card they would have to present when buying meat, so the amount of meat would register on the card, and then when the person ran out of their quota for that week, they would be denied the meat they want to purchase and have to wait until the next week for their quota to re-up. Having a quota would curtail the huge demand for meat, thus allowing meat to be produced more on local farms (which there were plenty of before the big corporations took over farming) and less by factory farms. You might say there will be a black market for meat, or some other excuse, but WHATEVER! Can't be afraid to try to new things because of fear of something else. It's just an idea, but of course in America this would never fly because our “freedom” is so precious. We can eat meat whenever the fuck we want, and however much we want. The big time agriculture corporations also would have a problem with this meat rationing. We need to start thinking about things like this though, ideas that SEEM so radical (like China's One Child policy), but eventually will be necessary and imperative for humankind's survival on planet Earth. We can't keep going on the way we are or else we will really end up destroying the planet, and ultimately, ourselves.

I will love as I discover

1 day before I depart on a 14 hour plane ride to China with one of my best friends and love, Dan.

I'm a little nervous. You probably think I'm talking about my journey to and in China, but I'm not. I'm talking about this blog. I'm nervous this blog will be more about you than it is about me. I mean this in the least narcissistic way possible. Let me explain a little.

Yes, I'm starting this blog mostly because I would like to keep all of you on the other side up to date with my Chinese tales, but I don't want to write what I think you'd like to hear, although there may be a little bit of that at times. I want to write honestly, unchecked by others' wants, about what I find amazing, heartbreaking, hilarious, interesting, or disturbing while I'm in China, which you may not find so amazing, heartbreaking, hilarious, interesting or disturbing. In other words, this blog is not about making you feel comfortable or entertained all the time. I'm going to try to be completely honest with myself in this blog, and in turn will be genuine with ya'll (Merritt, I thought I'd give it a go). I hope that doesn't make you nervous.

I've been finding it difficult to answer people's remarks and questions about China, particularly the "are you excited?" question, as people try to identify the emotions I'm feeling about moving to China for a year.

"Are you scared?"

"Are you nervous?"

"Are you excited?"

I'm sure what I'm feeling is a combination of many overlapping emotions, creating a new emotion I can't possibly describe to anyone because I'm really trying NOT to have emotion about China. I almost see all these emotions as pointless only because I can't even begin to imagine what China is going to be like, especially what it's going to be like for me. I've never been to China. I'm Asian, but the wrong kind (in China). I can count the number of Chinese phrases I can speak on two hands. I love dumplings. But people continue to ask and I continue to think in my head: "well, scared about what?", "well, what things in China should I be nervous about?", and "of course, but I can't even tell you how excited I am because although I know there is much to be excited about, those things have no shape or form yet."

I'm going in totally blind and I like it like that.

If I go in blind, there is so much potential for me to love and be excited about new things and experiences, even if it means there is just as much as potential to be anxious about certain things once I'm there. I think my general attitude and feelings toward making the big move to China can be encapsulated by the tattoo on my foot, "Amo ut invenio," which translates to "I love as I discover." When I first read this in a book, I thought I had never read a truer statement about myself and my attitude towards life. There is so much to discover in China, things I've never tasted, felt, seen, or heard-- and as I start discovering these things for the first time, my love for the world, traveling, and China will only deepen. If you go in with no expectations, there's less chance of disappointment and a very high possibility you will be floored, baffled, and mesmerized by a new country and its people. Discover, love, love, discover.

So I can't verbalize how I'm feeling about China, but I can tell you this much: there's potential for a lot of newfound love and expression over there, and I can't wait to take it all in and share it with you guys, here.

FIRST STOP: HONG KONG. GET IT.